LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA © LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA, 2012. © LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA, 2015. © TDK Editorial Collegium, 2015. ℗ La Casa Editorial Σίγ$α, 2015. DEDICATED TO PROFESSOR ALEXANDER S. GERD Mark Karamian, 2012. Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay, 2015. THE GREAT ACADEMIC DICTIONARY OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF AUTODIDACTIC RATIONAL EDUCATION «Перед вами громадина – русский язык! Наслаждение зовет вас, наслаждение погрузиться во всю неизмеримость его и изловить чудные законы его». — Николай Васильевич Гоголь. Tathagata Buddha was in his death-bed--his disciples were crying. Buddha said, “Roam without taking refuge to anyon, and go for refuge to your own self, be a light unto yourself (or be an island).” The Great autodidactism?1 Academic Dictionary as a tool of Definitely, yes! From the moment of pronouncing his very first word, mama, the child is being continuously corrected by his mother with a big smile on her face, the most divine sign of encouragement and approval. The same smile is the signature of the GAD, as well. The mother is always there to enrich the child’s vocabulary on an hourly basis. S/He remembers the lullabies sung and hummed by his/her mother. This gradual process of listening and learning takes place during a person’s entire lifespan. When a Vanyusha looses his mother, he shall not be upset for the loss since the Russian language, within which he was inhabiting, will mother him just as well. The provisions of the adoption process of Vanyusha is lovingly implemented by the Great Academic Dictionary (henceforth GAD). The first and the most important element in the learning process is listening, followed by in this strict order: speaking, writing and reading. If those four elements of initial education become a sacred duty of the mother, then not much is left for the teacher (better to say facilitator as teacher-student relationship entails vertical relationship. The ideal facilitator encourages horizontal mutual aid, i.e., helping each other without being bothered about hierarchy!) to do, except establishing the method of instruction, assignment, discipline, which will shape, train and make the child ready for a gradual and uninterrupted instruction of educational methods, leading him to a higher and higher discipline of learning, called the School Of Fluency or the Great Academic Dictionary itself. It is not surprising that from Rousseau and Gandhi—both of them emphasized the great role of mother-facilitator in their mission of education. Though, we must be cautious about the primary repression of semiotic order of the child, as Julia Kristeva (Kristeva, J. 1986. “A Question of Subjectivity: An Interview” in Rice, P., Waugh, P. Ed. A Modern Literary Theory: A Reader. London: Edward Arnold) aptly pointed out in course of semanalysis, when socially “insignificant” signifiers are repressed by the language police, language managers and language judges. The child is surrounded by или САМОУЧКА, (др.-греч. αὐτός - «сам» и др.-греч. διδακτός - «обученный») - человек, самостоятельно получивший образование высокого уровня вне стен какого-либо учебного заведения, без помощи обучающего. ,1 1АВТОДИДАКТ LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA such language rectifiers at the time of entering into the symbolic order of language. The GAD concerns almost all the methods used in learning the school of fluency conducted, not by a “pedestrian” teacher, but by a PEDAGOGUE2 (from Greek Dαιδαγωγός: Dαιδιά-child and ἀγωγός-leader). The army of teachers in the world, with its number is unmatched even if we consider the collective number of doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, constructors and service providers (restaurant, hotel, office, transportation, business) combined together. No other profession in this world can stand next to it with its grandiosity. However, only two and a half out of ten teachers are true pedagogues who understand the clarity of running the school of fluency either effectively or efficiently. Furthermore, less than 5% of pupils can succeed the challenges of this method of teaching. Nevertheless, if this method is continued systematically in every school, then only 5% of pupils will graduate from it SUCCESSFULLY, making all of us to think: “why do we waste State financial and human resources on non-achievers, both teachers and pupils.”3 The vast majority of pupils after graduating from secondary school will be seen wrapping burgers or being sucked into the vortex of retail sales where there is no need at all, to try to remember Newton’s Laws, or even how to spell his name! Is this the true reason of the cause and the result of Western Materialism? “Without wide spectral mass education the nation within the government will be ruined like a house built from badly baked bricks!”4. "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education"5. This can be verified by nothing the diverse contexts in which education are discussed in many books going back all the way to the XV century B.C. In this connection one shall find some of the special questions which together make up the complex problem of education. The nature of teaching and learning is examined in the wider context of psychological considerations concerning human abilities, the way in which knowledge is acquired, and how it is communicated by means of the alphabet and the language. Different conceptions of the nature of human and of the relation of these several capacities surround the question of the “endless” end of education. "Воспитание, образование детей, направление их жизни, конечно, не легкая и не пустая задача"6. There questions arise concerning the parts of education: the training of human body, the formation of his/her character, the cultivation of her/his mind, and how these are related to one another. The answer is in the individual’s mind without answering those questions because of their philosophical complexity or simplicity according to one’s mental capacity. "By advancing in philosophy, one will advance in grief, and those who are advanced intellectually, they will advance in painful misery.”7 The problem is that philosophers are now endangered species in the context of technocratic society and the restoration of epistemology is the task to be prioritized. Примечание. Translated from Old Armenian first translation by Saint Mesrop, Ecclesiastics 1:18; modern translation from the manuscripts of the Armenian Bible, 434 A.D. by Mark Karamian, Matenadaran, The Institute of Ancient Scripts after St. Mashtots, Erevan, Armenia; Library of Ancient Scriptures, Scriptorium of Echmiadzin Cathedral, Built in 480 A.D. ПЕДАГОГ: МАС, 3-е издание, том III, страница 37, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 1987. Словарь Современного Русского Литературного Языка, Педагог, а, м. Лицо, профессионально; Педагог: Словарь Современного Русского Литературного Языкам, том IX, столб. 347, Москва & Ленинград, 1959. 2 3 Joseph Rosenthal, The Archive of Letters and Correspondence for J. Rosenthal & M. Karamian, File Private Results from CIA Statistics, 66-03/EM, page 55, May 20, 2004, Acapulco, Mexico & Savannah, USA. 4 ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ: БАС, Максим Горький, Антон Чехов, том 13, страница 276, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2009. Mark Twain (1835-1910), Joseph Rosenthal, The Archive of Letters and Correspondence for J. Rosenthal & M. Karamian, 61-03/EM, page 55, May 20, 2004, Acapulco, Mexico & Savannah, USA. 5 6 7 ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ: Словарь современного русского литературного языка, том VIII, 362, Москва & Ленинград, 1959 // И.А. Гончаров, Обломов. Translated from Old Armenian first translation by Saint Mesrop, Ecclesiastics 1:18; modern translation from the manuscripts of the Armenian Bible, 434 A.D. by Mark Karamian, Matenadaran, The Institute of Ancient Scripts after St. Mashtots, Erevan, Armenia; Library of Ancient Scriptures, Scriptorium of Echmiadzin Cathedral, Built in 480 A.D. ,2 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA Pedagogues are equipped with all the classic tools of higher education: scientific-research institutes, scientific laboratories, all the books in huge libraries, rocket technology, and other methods to succeed victoriously and not to digress. They are also equipped with the art of inspiration of love towards books and one-on-one training having a single goal in mind to pass all they know to their pupils with the highest rate of success in achieving academic requirements to produce useful and articulate members in society to carry on life in light and happiness, even though the GAD is going to be very heavy to either carry or digest properly. Education should be the “art of training human”8: the conscious guidance of the growing body to health, of the character to morality, of the mind to intelligence, of the feelings to self-control, sociability, happiness and absolute freedom of conscience etc. “Human is nor better treated by nature in his first start then her other works are; so long as he is unable to act for himself as an independent intelligence, she acts for him. But the very fact that constitutes him a man is, that he does not remain stationary, where nature has placed him, that he can pass with his reason, retracing the steps nature had made him anticipate, that he can convert the work of necessity into one of free solutions, and elevate physical necessity into a moral law”9. — Friedrich Von Schiller. Apart from that kind of educational system instructed by the state and its subsequent apparatuses, it shall also be at least one thousand light years away from the Church and any of its dangerously fatal doctrines ever concocted to mislead the innocent and the youth, except using the Bible as an example of one of the oldest books ever written on this planet, regardless of its relevant or irrelevant facts and factoids published within it. “One must clearly distinguish religion from faith. Religion is a cult dictating evil doctrines of despotic nature and promotes bloody and endless wars, whereas the faith synthesizes HOPE and LOVE governed by divine harmony in un-impregnable balance, which can move mountains”10. The GAD is the bible of the Russian language and literature itself which needs no proof of further justification, since the only miracle in the GAD is the word and its proper usage, instructed by great pedagogues. Passionate inspiration in the school of fluency makes pupils absorb only one third of the general knowledge they possess, and the rest of the three quarters of the achievements in education is a direct result of selfeducation as a consequential and uninterrupted educational process of the school of fluency, leaving the pupil to justify his education on the magnitude of self-determination in autodidactism (cf. Sartre’s Nausea) using the rich literary heritage from the past, and also applying the astronomical bulk of information on the World Wide Web. Amongst all living things in this Universe only human has developed a means of passing on his intellectual achievements, values, skills and attitudes to the posterity. This process is known to us as EDUCATION. Learning takes place through the entire lifespan of human. The pace of learning changes with age, habits, attitudes, interests, subject matter and too many other factors to mention. “Education and admonition commence in the first years of childhood, and last to the very end of life”11. Schoolwork does not speak loud enough when we think of education. The true education comes from outside of the school mostly than it may contain within itself. The basic education comes to us from the families we have been raised within. These range from the skills involved in behaving, eating, dressing, walking, adhering to normal values, indestructible faith in the present and the future, sharing with others, love of fellow man and respect for the law. The future success mainly depends on these fundamentals leading us to a satisfactory fulfillment of the divine gift the education upon which rests our rich heritage of human life that we must carry on through our books, and especially the GAD. The meaning of education is the attempt to formulate the exhaustive and comprehensive objectives, content, essence and strategy of education in accordance with a harmoniously organized integration of it. The world literature beginning with Homer to contemporary authors 8 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Émile, or On Education, page 37, London, 1911. 9 Friedrich Von Schiller, Aesthetics Education, The Harvard Classics, Alumni Edition de Luxe, volume 32, page 234, New York 1910. 10 Joseph Rosenthal, The Archive of Letters and Correspondence for J. Rosenthal & M. Karamian, Anglolysis© , 69-07/EM, page 16, December 20, 2004, Acapulco, Mexico & Savannah, USA. 11 Plato, Dialogues, Protagoras, The Yale Classics, volume.22, page 170, Timothy Dwight Edition, London and New York, 1899. ,3 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA is laden with advice on looking after the younger generation and posterity. The generous abundance of this advice would indicate that perplexities in child training are considered as perennial. There are many resourceful methods and factors based upon which it could be solved, the picture of its solution has been known to us for thousands of years. To seek assistance from the direction of educational philosophy, however, may shock “the average Joe” as rather formidable. be absolutely no “notion of facing our system of education”. Then the attestation process comes to evaluate the advancement in learning by means of examination. "Another error lies in the manner of delivering knowledge, which is generally magisterial and peremptory, not ingenious and open, but, suited to gain belief without examination"13. Ultimately, more than interest is required. Saint Augustine indicated that teaching is the greatest act of charity. The learning process is facilitated by love only as an eloquent picture of love between the student and teacher, master and disciple with no evidence of conflict of interest. Not only "love, which never fails"14, but pliancy and docility are required on the part of the student, and respect for the student’s thinking principle, intellectual power and common sense on the part of the facilitator. Intellectual education cannot be directly concerned with the formation of ideographic character, yet the moral virtues are the factor in the pursuit of truth and in the discipline of the learning process and education, as well. Educational philosophy is nothing more than an extension and refinement of common sense that reflects on modern education and its prosperous development only if love is applied to it, both by the pedagogue and the student, only if passion is the sole monarch and the dictator in its every aspect. Education is a continuous reading and re-reading process of the history of our civilization. “This same idea in its over simplified state and form is the alphabet, for which there would be no word to express our gratitude for being granted to have this luxury”12. From the alphabet to books to the GAD, writing these very few thoughts on modern education took more than three thousand five hundred years due to recording the entire process of the birth of education and its further journey into the future to serve as an illuminative guide, ready for more reasonable changes if that hope could be pampered and embraced with love, applying visionary insight upon it. The student-facilitator relationship is also well articulated in this verse of Krishna Yajurveda Taittiriya Upanishad (2.2.2): In addition to the vital considerations raised by the nature of education, the ventilation of teaching deals with the moral or emotional aspect of the relation between facilitator and student always raising the bar of love higher and higher to books. Without interest learning seldom takes place, or if it does, it cannot rise above the level of rote memory. It is one thing to design a course of study in education for teaching and learning; another to motivate the student to understand and respect the values that education offers him to picture the given subject in colours inside or outside of his imagination. Though he does not hesitate to advocate what is to be learned by the student. Plato pinpoints the caution and the danger that there must ॥ शा>nः शा>nः शा>nः ॐ । नाववतु सह ॐ । भुनkु नौ सह । करवावहै वीय1 सह । 2व3dषावहै मा नावधीतमsु तेज;s “May both of us (the facilitator and the Student) equally be protected, may both of us be nourished equally, may both of us work together with great energy and vigour, may our intellectual study be sharpened and be enlightened and let there be no animosity and hostility amongst us… peace, peace, peace…” Autodidacticism or autodidactism is self-education or selfdirected learning. Books are needed for this reason. The GAD is a perfect tool of self-education. An autodidact is an absolute self-taught person, as opposed to learning in a school setting or from a tutor or a pedagogue. A person may 12 Koryun, Biography of Mashtots, 443 A.D., Matenadaran, the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts after St. Mashtots, Yerevan, Armenia. 13 Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning, volume 23, page 22, The Yale Classics, Timothy Dwight Edition, London and New York, 1899. 14 King James Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:8, England, 1611. ,4 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA become an autodidact at nearly any point in his life. Whilst some may have been educated in a conventional manner in a particular field, they may choose to educate themselves in other, often unrelated areas which is offered by the GAD unconditionally and plentifully. Self-teaching and self-directed learning are not particularly lonely processes promoted by the GAD. Some autodidacts spend a great deal of time in empty libraries or on unreliable educative websites. Many, according to their plan for learning, avail themselves of 75% of instructions from family members, friends, or other associates. However, based on true analysis this might not be considered autodidactic. Indeed, the term autodidactism (cf. Sanskrit atmadipa/atmadvipa(bhaba) “, be a light unto yourself or be an island)” is something of a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words or figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech, or something recurring across a genre or type of creative work these days, and is often used to signify the non-traditionally educated, which is entirely different as opposed to the traditionally educated. Delving into autodidacticism has serious implications for learning theory, educational research, educational psychology and educational philosophy: all the way from ABC to cybernetics and back to the dictionary. The modus operandi of pedagogical education through the GAD will eliminate many problematic methods that modern schools created. In return, the society will benefit tremendously since presently where the magnitude of continuous Industrial Modernization15 and Globalization16 have caused disastrous effects, invading every inch of space of any valuable profession by making them obsolete, including the work of distinguished teachers. However, we are in denial, in this respect. In the near future, this will prove itself, leaving no time for argument if it is true or not just by judging from the 25,000-13,000 copies of the Dictionary of Contemporary Russian Literary Language, the 100,000 copies of the second edition of the “GAD” pressed by the Soviet Union versus 5,000 copies of the GAD pressed by the Russian Federation. Consequently, the capacity of human knowledge comes first, and the connection of the latter with personal qualities and her/his ability to employ his intelligence by himself alone and gain further development of its results. “For all man have the political virtues to a certain degree, and whether they have them or not are obliged to say that they have them. A man would be thought a madman who professed an art which he did not know; and he would be equally thought a madman if he did not profess a virtue which he had not. And that the political virtues can be taught and acquired, in the opinion of the Athenians approved by the fact that they punish evil-doers, with a view to prevention, of course - more retribution is for beasts, and not for man. Another proof of this is the education of youth, which begins almost as soon as they can speak, and is continued by the State when they pass out of the control of their parents. Nor is their any inconsistency in wise and good fathers having foolish and worthless sons; for (a) in the first place the young do not learn of their father’s only, but of all the citizens and (b) this is partly a matter of chance of natural gifts: the sons of a great statesman are not necessarily great statesmen and more than the sons of a good artist are necessarily good artists. The errors of Socrates lies in supposing that there are no teachers when all men are teachers. Only a few, like Protagoras himself, are somewhat better than others... “17 —Plato. Autodidactism originating from a short period of time in pedagogic education is not a new concept. It comes from the depth of ancient times demonstrating concrete testimonial evidence by giving the world Aristotle, Socrates, Avicenna as Abu Ali Ibn Sina, Ibn Tufail, Ibn al-Nafis, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Bernard Shaw, Thomas Alva Edison, Michael Faraday, Samuel Johnson, James Murray, Henry Bradley, Alfred Russel Wallace, Henry Walter Bates, Thomas Huxley “Darwin’s Bulldog”, John Bunyan, George Fox, Herbert Spencer, Karl Popper, Mathematical genius Srinivssa Ramanujan and Newton’s contemporary Gittfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Oliver Heavisid, Moshe Feldenkrais, Gerda Alexander, Heinrich Jacoby, Frank Zapa, August Wilson, Joachi Raff, Edward Elgar, Arnold Schoenberg, Jean-Paul Sartre, Rodney "Gipsy" Smith and Jacques Rancière for his “The Ignorant Schoolmaster”, and most 15 Модернизация производства, БАС, том 10, страница 301, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2008. 16 ГЛОБАЛИЗАЦИЯ: БАС, том 4, страница 156, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2006. 17 Plato, Dialogues, The Yale Classics, volume 22, page 144, Timothy Dwight Edition, London & New York, 1899. ,5 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA members of Moscow Biennale etc. The list of names is endless, and probably even not known to either teachers or pupils! What about Lili Ivanova18? «Няма друга певица, която да пее песни с такива смислени текстове, то човек слуша и не вярва на ушите си, че е възможно да подредиш думите така и да ги изпееш по този невероятен начин, че та раздереш душата на човек.»19. which was the only decent medical textbook in European medical universities and the Islamic world up until the 18th century. The reason being that religion inhibited the development of sciences (banning dissecting the human body for scientific research reasons at the anatomicums of all schools of medicines) by threatening the entire scientific community with unjust treatment promoted by the Inquisition of "The Holy Roman Empire" which is neither holy nor Roman or an Empire! Therefore, the Canon of Medicine remained as the only true and scientifically fit textbook and lifetime companion for a doctor or medical students. Only Russians could pull the courage to translate the Canon of Medicine of Abu Ali ibn Sina in several consecutive editions. The Canon of Medicine (Ail ibn Sina or Avicenna, one of the three fathers of medicine along with Galen and Hippocrates, was and is a true result of autodidactism20. He is the founder of the scientific method (first, second and third phases of clinical research studies; theoretical methods of in-vitro: a priori and practical methods of in vivo: a posteriori) and clinical pharmacology, medical deontology and methods of surgically removing parts of the human scull by punctuation to reach the brain. These methods are in use today almost unchanged. The Canon of Medicine lists more than 800 pharmacologically tested simple and complex drugs, including plant and mineral substances, with a thorough description of their application and effectiveness. For each one, he described their pharmaceutical actions from a range of 22-30 possibilities, including resolution, astringency and softening, and their specific properties according to a grid of 11 types of pathological conditions, diseases. “The world is divided into men who have wit and no religion and men who have religion and no wit.”21 About autodidactism he usually suggested: «Изучай их самостоятельно… Читай сам, решай теорему, а затем приходи ко мне и показывай итоги, я тебя обьясню, что правильно, и что неправильно»22. «Это книга, большей части которой не может знать и не помнить каждый, кто приписывает себе искусстви врача и добывает пропитание врачеванем, ибо она содержит лишь то наименьшее, без чего не обойтись врчу. Что же касаетця добавлений к ней, то это вещь необъятная, и если Аллах великий отсрочит мою смерть и судьба мне поможет, то я возьмусь за них в другой раз»24. More than 5000 treatises in medicine and philosophy were ascribed to Ibn Sina. Some of them are tracts of a few pages. Others are essays and monographs, extending through several volumes. Avicenna's 10-volume The Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanoon fi al-Tibb, The Laws of Medicine), If those people could learn and achieve what they did, then one may ask a simple question to oneself: “Which modern school nowadays is in a duty of educating and giving Lomonosovs, Griboedovs, Johnsons, Bachs, Sechenovs, Botkins, Faradays, Mendeleevs, Debelyanovs and Edisons to the «Там - геометр Евклид, там – Птоломей, Там – Гиппократ, Гален и Авицена, Аверроэс, толковник новых дней, Я всех назвать не в силах поименно; Мне нужно быстро молвить обо всем, И часто речь моя несовершенна»23. Данте Алигьери (1256-1321). Mark Karamian, “Лили Иванова - Это имя исписано золотыми буквами в истории Болгарско-русской культуры. Лили Иванова - это праздник для души и сердца. Лили Иванова - это любовь и вечность! Как не любить эту женщину?” http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ id380886812, Beverly Hills, California, USA, 2010. 18 19 Марк Карамян, http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/edna-lyubov/id357530750, Beverly Hills, California, USA, 2011. 20 Avicenna 21 Avicenna, The Canon of the Medicine, Russian translation, volume I, the publishing house of the Academy of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 1954. 22 Абу Али ибн Сина, Канон врачебной науки, том 1, страница 13, Одесса, 2003. 23 Академик Академии Медицинских Наук СССР, В.Н. Терновский, Ибн Сина (Авицена), страницы от 13 до 51, Наука, Москва, 1969. 24 Абу Али ибн Сина, Канон врачебной науки, том 1, страница 34, Одесса, 2003. ,6 ‫ابوعلی حسین بن عبداه بن سینا‬ LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA society?”. Name one! “I was an autodidactic feral child living in isolation from civilization on a desert island and discovering the truth as I grew up without having been in contact with another human soul.”25 “I die out and I bear into the shine: A many-faced, distorted spirit. Daylight - building tireless beyond; Night darken - collapse no mercy. by dream. And to say the truth, how much so ever the lives of the pedants have been ridiculed upon the stage, as the emblem of tyranny, because the modern looseness or negligence has not duly regarded the choice of proper schoolmasters and tutors; yet the wisdom of the most ancient and the best times always complained that states were always too busy with laws and too remise in [the] point of education.“28 — Francis Bacon. Into the time’s deed unprejudiced Fades away quietly life never born. And my tears for solace are crying, Through a desert shown, hasn't seen.”26 In other words, common sense cannot stand by itself. It needs correction and refinement just like the GAD needs. It needs a wider and longer view of its object. Common sense of the GAD is provided by theory which, etymologically, has the same Greek route as theatre and emphasizes the idea of getting a panoramic view or understanding of the whole area of concern. Common sense can be refined and made more dependable theoretically in two directions. In one direction the pedagogue tries to become precisely exact by giving 100% and expecting 120% in return. He breaks an educational problem down into its component parts. Then he studies only as many parts, or variables, as he can control experimentally. The only deductive purpose of the GAD is to keep flooding the light on common sense which appears to be the final remedy for any problems that may occur in this lengthy process of education. Many educators are confronted with the complexities of child rearing. The usual tendency is to approach students in a common sense fashion which is drowned from a long accumulation of firsthand experience handed down from generation to generation. Yet, sound is commonsense and may be needed when winnowed by succeeding generations. It suffers from a kind of shortsightedness born of its closeness of firsthand experience. This shortsightedness immediately becomes evident when one extends the range of common sense to other times and places. By allowing one of those to vary whilst he holds the rest constant, he knows the final consequences. Therefore, he must be able rather in both: rather in giving and receiving 220% summed together. Impressive as is the usual consensus on scientific results, this consensus is purchased at the price of limited results. On the other hand, disturbing as maybe the perennial disagreement amongst educational philosophers. This is the price of attempting to train a child in the light of all the diverse circumstances bearing on him by making him into a fisherman of words. That lucky fisherman whose ocean is the GAD will catch many fish for a lifetime. The future provides students and professors a livelihood based on the quantity of their vocabulary (cf. minor's vocabulary versus medical doctor's vocabulary). “‘Your young man shall see vision, your old man shall dream dreams’;27 upon which the commentators observe, that youth is the worthier age, inasmuch as revelation by vision is clearer than “Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul; and we must take care, my friend, that the Sophist does not deceive us when he praises what he sells, like the dealers wholesale or retail who sell If I call for calmed days in peace, Storms in rage overtakes the sea. And if I dare for hurricane, Quietly in wails sound stay shut. I so much long for sunrise in flames, But cannot see it - makes me blind. Through spring I die out as autumn; Autumn time - flowering as spring. 25 Ibn Tufail or latinized Abubacer Aben Tofail by ‫عاء الدين أبو الحسن عليّ بن أبي حزم القرشي الدمشقي‬ 26 Dimcho Debelyanov, A Black Canto, First published in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1910. 27 Hebrew Rabbi Joel, The New Testament, “And in the last days,” God says, “I shall pour out some of my spirit upon every sort of flesh, and YOUR sons and YOUR daughters will prophesy and YOUR young men will see visions and YOUR old men will dream dreams;” New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, USA, 1961. 28 Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning, The Yale Classics, Timothy Dwight Edition, volume 23, page 11, London & New York, 1899. ,7 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA the food of the body; for they praise indiscriminately all their goods, without knowing what are really beneficial or hurtful; neither do their customers know, with the exception of any trainer or physician who may happen to buy of them. In light manner those who carry about the wares of knowledge, and make the round of the cities, and sell or retail them to any customer whose in want of them, praise them all alike; and I should not wander, Oh my friend, if many of them were really ignorant of their effect upon the soul; and their customers equally ignorant, unless he who buys of them happens to be a physician of the soul.”29 —Plato. To illustrate this phenomenon, it is recommended to take a case of a person not doing well in school. There was a time when commonsense might have crowned her/him with a dunce’s cap because of lack of common vocabulary. Instead he could have been crowned with fifty kilogrammes of a Ruby Crown in weight of the GAD! Mistrusting so simple a solution, the modern teacher should undoubtedly try to extend the range of his understanding or in this case by calling to his aid a variety of experts with scientific philological training or simply refer the student to the GAD. In accordance with the learners’ ability and aptitude, the order of things in the curriculum might be organized. The family Doctor might find the child to be the victim of some debilitating acquired disease, or a visiting teacher might find the child’s home to be a poor environment or to suffer from idleness of the father or to be by philosophical or religious differences of the parents. “And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure – reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”30 — George Washington. 29 Each diagnosis would have its own limited therapy. But, what to do in the light of all to achieve a high degree of reliability and objectivity about the precise role of this particular variable? To refine common sense, in this matter, is to refine it scientifically. This is the responsibility of the philosophy of the GAD. A second direction the GAD might take to improve on commonsense would again start with an awareness of the variables involved. But, this time, instead of working with only a limited number of them, it would insist on taking as many as possible into account, whether or not the GAD can control them. In doing so it excludes any hope of gaining reliability of objectivity in thinking and reasoning. But, it gains a certain wholeness of viewpoint. To seek, think and act in the light of all the relevant factors is to take a philosophical point of view of the situation presented by the GAD. “The most complete gift of God is a life based on knowledge.”31 In spite of the fact that, linguistic science and philological philosophy seem to refine commonsense in opposite directions. It would be a mistake to consider them incompatible with one another since the GAD is the only link between them. On the contrary, linguistic science and philological philosophy really complement each other. The GAD or the Russian language will refine their common sense reaction to educational perplexities not just in one or the other direction, but circumstantially, how to balance all the relevant values: this is much more than a simple task for common sense. “I have presented a few of the means of self-culture. The topics now discussed will, I hope, suggest others to those who have honored me with their attention, and create and interest that will extend beyond the present hour. I owe it, however, the truth to make one remark. I wish to raise no unreasonable hopes. I must say, then, that the means now recommended to you, though they will richly reward every man of every age who will faithfully use them, will yet not produce their full and happiest effect, except in cases where early education has prepared the mind for future improvement. They whose childhood has been neglected, though they may make progress in future life, can hardly repair the loss of Plato, Dialogues of Plato, Protagoras, The Yale Classics, Timothy Dwight Edition, Volume 22, page 159, London & New York, 1899. 30 George Washington, American Historical Documents from 1000-1904, Washington's Farewell Address [1796], The Harvard Classics, volume 43, page 260, Alumni Edition De Luxe, New York, 1910. 31 Ali bin Abi Talib (600-661), the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mohammad, ‫علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب‬ ,8 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA their first years; and I say this, that we may all be excited to save our children from this loss, that we may prepare them, to the extent of our power, for an effectual use of all the means of self culture which adult age may bring with it. With these views, I ask you to look with favour on the recent exertions of our legislature and of private citizens on behalf of public schools, the chief hope of our country, the legislature has of late appointed a board of education, with a secretary, who is to devote his whole time to the improvement of public schools. An individual more fitted to this responsible office than the gentleman who now fills it cannot, I believe, be found in our community; and if his labours shall be crowned with success, he will earn a title to the gratitude of the good people of this State unsurpassed by that of any other living citizen. Let me also recall to your minds a munificent individual, who, by a generous donation, has encouraged the legislature to resolve on the establishment of one or more institutions called normal schools, the object of which is to prepare accomplished teachers of youth - a work of which the progress of education depends more than on any other measure. The efficient friends of education are the true benefactors of their country and their names deserved to be passed down to posterity whose highest wants they are providing.”32 ethics of the Russian speech decorum. It examines the nature of the good offered by the GAD. Without a criteria of value the Russian parent or the Russian teacher will be on uncertain ground in determining the aims of education or which part of sociolinguistic heritage should be included in the philological curriculum when the GAD is the central point of man’s equilibrium. "The greatest error of [the advancement of learning] is mistaking the ultimate end of knowledge; for some men covet knowledge out of a natural curiosity and inquisitive temper; some to entertain the mind with variety and delight; some for ornament and reputation; some for victory and contention; many for lucre and a livelihood; and but few for employing the Divine gift of reason to the use and benefit of mankind.”34 A second major subdivision concerns itself with the knowledge, technicality and the epistemology of the Russian language. It inquires how the learner comes to know and whether what he knows is true, keeping an eye on the canons and maxims of knowledge that provides a yard stick by which both teacher and student can constantly measure the curriculum and methods of instruction implied by Russian literature. — William Channing. On the way to striking a balance it may be necessary to inquire just how to conceive the nature of the student, how to state the proper power to the proper ends of education and of life33 itself for that matter on how to decide the proper roles of the Russian language and literature in promoting man’s welfare, how to be assured of the logic by which this analysis has proceeded and how to deal with the number of other equally weighty questions dealing with the normativity of the Russian language and the significance of the GAD put together. As to the questions just raised suggest educational philosophy of the Russian language is not a simple discipline. To answer the kind of educational problems posed, it is necessary to recognize three main subdivisions of philosophical effort. One has to do with values and A third and final category of Russian philological educational philosophy considers the nature of reality of the language or, again more technically, metaphysics. There will be continual differences of opinion about the good and the true in Russian language education, which can only be adjusted by appeal to what is the real nature of man and the world he inhabits, the reflection of sociolinguistics. To determine the generic traits of reality may seem to be just a matter of common sense, but, it is far from being so easy a matter. “This great educator of our philology [Lomonosov] knew and felt that the language of an illuminated nation must satisfy all of its requirements.”35 If the GAD must appeal the controversial questions about the good and the true to the generic traits of reality it does so through Russian literature only. It would appear that a sound philological philosophy of education rests ultimately 32 William Channing, Essays, American Essays, Self-culture, The Yale Classics, Timothy Dwight Edition, volume 36, page 51, London & New York, 1899. 33 Education and life together is one of the main essential elements in sociolinguistics. 34 Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning, The Yale Classics, volume 23, page 23, Timothy Dwight Edition, London & New York, 1899. 35 EDUCATOR: The GAD, volume 13, page 277, Moscow & St. Petersburg, 2009. ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬ: БАС, том 13, страница 277, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2009. ,9 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA on a factual basis of the GAD. As a matter of fact, this is what a number of notable Russian linguistic philosophers held. But, just what is reality of the words in the GAD? For instance, are its dimensions, and consequently those of philological education as well, measured by the here and now or do they include the semantics hereafter as well? If they include the latter too, how can the Russian parent or Russian language teacher know with certainty what the dimensions require as to the ends, content and method of instruction through the GAD? The answer is highly speculative at best. One can argue logically enough to a number of different conclusions, but, which conclusion, which set of premises from which these conclusions take their origin from? Which is the true one? The lexicological analysis would make it appear that questions of philological epistemology take precedence over questions of metaphysics. But, a moment ago it seemed that what was true depended on what was real, what is printed on the pages of the GAD. Now it appears that what is real in these red volumes depends on what can be taken to be true, trusting the tremendous influence of Russian literature or the Russian language presented by the Great Academic Dictionary. This influential impasse directs attention to the fact that the truth about the reality of the Russian words and semantics perhaps can never be completely known unless the GAD is analyzed passionately. On the one hand, this may be due to human limitations and the capacity to know anything. On the other hand, it may point to the need for redefining the role of philological educational philosophy which is very evident if one truly wants to examine the capacity of the GAD of the XXI century. Some think that the philological philosophy presented in the GAD should help lexicographers by clarifying the statements by which they clothe their philological theories, policies and practices whilst writing a dictionary of a grand scope like the GAD. Human beings use the Russian language in three different ways as they point out. One is cognitive; it represents or describes what is the fact. Another is emotive; it expresses feelings. And the third is persuasive or imperative; it seeks to influence the conduct of others. When Russian speakers or 36 even lexicographers misuse or confuse these uses they will need philosophy, in the sense of linguistic analysis to untangle themselves leaving the GAD untouched and far from any criticism. “One of the most striking characteristics of our age, and that, indeed, which has worked deepest in all the changes of its fortunes and pursuits, is the general diffusion of knowledge, this is emphatically the age of reading. In other times this was the privilege of the few; in ours, it is the possession of the many. Learning one’s constituted accomplishment of those in the higher orders of society, who had no relish for active employment, and of those whose monastic lives and religious professions sought to escape from the weariness of common duties. In its progress may be said to have been gradually downwards from the higher to the middle classes of society. It scarcely reached at all, in its joys or its sorrows, in its instructions or its fantasies, the home of the peasant and artisan. It now radiates in all directions; and it exerts its central force more in the middle, than in any other class of society. The means of education were formerly within the reach of few. It required wealth to accumulate knowledge. The possession of a library was no ordinary achievement. The learned leisure of a fellowship in some university seemed almost indispensable for any successful studies; and the patronage of princes and courtiers was the narrow avenue for public favour. I speak of a period at little more than the distance of two centuries; not of particular instances, but, of the general caste and complexion of life.”36 — Joseph Story. The statement that everyone born into this world has a natural right to an education could be untrue and a waste time. Supposedly, language was used in the first sense as it seems to be making a descriptive statement of fact. On closer analysis, however, it may well have been trying to convince others of this principle, the third sense. Indeed, not only may it have been trying to convince others but, to sweep them into its camp by the implied justification that the principle was anchored in fact. But, is it a fact or just an expression of one’s own feeling, the second category? And Joseph Story, Orators, American Orators, volume I, Characteristics of the Age, The Yale Classics, Timothy Dwight Edition, volume 31, page 382-383, London & New York, 1899. ,10 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA if it was spoken descriptively, what was it meant by “natural?”37 Is there any factual observational or empirical evidence that would lay this question of sociolinguistics to rest? And if not, is the statement as a fact meaningless? However, a statement of this kind taken philosophically should help the lexicographer and the reader of the GAD to be aware of the possible meanings which clearly approve that they both need further and advanced courses in their own field of knowledge. his good, the only way to get love in the child, which will make him hearken to his lessons, and relish what he teaches him.”38 — John Locke. As a rule, just like any other creation of human intellect, the GAD is primarily based on the objective and subjective observations of facts and generalization of accumulated human experience in the Russian language during many millennia. The words reflect man's notions of factual and instinctive phenomena, different sociolinguistic processes which have taken place within lexical layers of the Russian language and the delicately balanced correlation between them. As an explanatory dictionary, the GAD registers lexical units which have been widely recognized as reasonably established linguistic facts rather than occasional or nonliterary usages. The only ramification of this lies in the final fact which represents itself as an action, that more and thicker books, such as the GAD, shall be opened and read with love and passion by the Russians and Russophiles in order to prepare and give ready and mentally healthy educationally sound students to the society where we all live and enjoy every minute of it. It is believed that this suggestion is the clearest and best final diagnosis, not needing a second opinion to validate or justify it or finally to criticize negatively the studious authors, the Russian people of this laborious work, the GAD that they prepared and presented to Us as a reader with the uttermost love and lust applied to it. The only witness is the Great Academic Dictionary, including its extensive Russian literary content and its long history beginning with Princess Dashkova to Lyudmila Kruglikova... The stability and dynamism of a word in the language is the main criterion for their inclusion in the selection of Russian vocabulary. On the other hand, the GAD reveals, to a certain extent, the potentialities inherent in the Russian language for coining new words by recording the most viable and vigorous patterns of the Russian language. The GAD has centuries long history of lexicographical experience. It incorporates within its massive corpus the standard Russian vocabulary, neutral vocabulary, words of standard and general use, common standard-colloquial vocabulary, common standard literary vocabulary, neologisms, scientific and technical terms, professionalisms, archaic, obsolete, historical words, poetical words, author's coinage, barbarisms, words of regional dialects, popular words of low parlance or vernacular language, geographicdemographic words, proper names of historical and mythological names, some adjectives derived from proper nouns, complex words of terminological character and of standard use, common abbreviations and aging words,39 borrowed words, words of the Soviet era40, novelties,41 nonce “The great skill of a teacher is not to get and keep the attention of his scholar; whilst he has that, he is sure to advance as fast as the learners ability will carry him; and without that, all his bustle and pother will be to little or no purpose. To attain this, he should make the child comprehend (as much as maybe) the usefulness of what he teaches him, and let him see, by what he has learned, that he can do something which he could not do before; something, which gives him power and real advantage above others who are ignorant of it. To this he should add sweetness in all his instructions, and by a certain tenderness in his whole carriage, make the child sensible that he loves him and designs nothing but ЕСТЕСТВЕННЫЙ: БАС, том 5, страница 546-547, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2006. НАТУРАЛЬНЫЙ: БАС, том 11, страница 434, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2008. 37 38 John Locke, English Philosophers, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, LATIN, The Harvard Classics Alumni Edition de Luxe, volume 37, page 151, New York, 1910. Stylistically labeled as a word in a process of aging [Устаревающее] but still in use approaching to the periphery; см. ГАДАТЕЛЬНОСТЬ: БАС, том 4, страница 13, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2006. 39 Stylistically labeled as a word related to or pertaining of the Soviet Union as historical recent archaism; см. ГОРСОВЕТ: БАС, том 4, страница 326, Москва & Санкт-Петербург, 2006. 40 41 Stylistically have never been used before by any other dictionaries. ,11 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA words, some jargonism and none of non-normative coarse vulgarism, profanity, risqué lexicon, offensive words, abusive expressions or anything else disqualifying or underestimating the philosophy of any minority group in Russian society, otherwise, sociolinguistics within the Russian language will loose its true meaning. Even Vladimir Dahl indicated, that “it is impermissible to write with uncultured and vulgar language.”42 This is the fundamental principle of a rational system of genuine and sincere illumination that we call EDUCATION which starts from learning WORDS. On the very opposite side of education stands ignorance, leading every healthy mind and thoughts into darkness and catastrophic devastation of degrading the achievements of human civilization during continuous millennia. The dynamic contradiction between education and ignorance is the breeding ground of the notorious dispute and eruptive reaction which always gives birth to a destructive state, corrupted society and WAR. “All animals are perpetually at war; every species is born to devour another... Air, earth and the waters are fields of destruction. It seems that God having given reason to man, this reason should teach them not to debase themselves by imitating animals, particularly when nature has given them neither arms to kill their fellow-creatures, nor instinct which leads them to suck their blood.” 46 The new GAD stands above all criticisms. It reflects only the best heritage of the Russian language and literature. It is totally unbiased politically, religiously, ideologically... "It is not permissible to joke with the language: man's lexical speech, apparently is a tangible connection and a link between his soul and body, spirit and flesh.”43 “Das wörterbuch ist kein sittenbuch, sondern ein wissenschaftliches, allen zwecken gerechtes unternehmen. Selbst in der bibel gebricht es nicht an wörtern, die bei der feinen gesellschaft verpönt sind. wer an nackten bildseulen ein ärgernis nimmt oder an den nichts auslassenden wachspraeparaten der anatomie, gehe auch in diesem sal den misfälligen wörtern vorüber und betrachte die weit überwiegende mehrzahl der andern.”44 – Jacob Grimm. This hostile condition has been the very negative factor for education in its further development. For centuries numerous and countless scholars have been put behind bars for life, crucified and burned alive for discovering that the Earth was revolving around the Sun and its own axis, as opposed to being flat and resting on four gigantic elephants or turtles. The same persecution exists to this present day in its distinct way that defers from the same thing in the past by nominal fluctuation of changes in the main elements of it. It would be unreasonable to write about this tragedy right next to the beauty of education illustrated hereafter. However, beauty is always the winner, shining the light, illuminating the path to elucidate other aspects of the brilliance of education, and take us to newer and higher dimensions filled with grandiose hopes where it will shine brighter than yesterday. “It is admirable to consider how many Millions of People come into, and go out of this *** “To learn wisdom and discipline of instruction, to discern the words of the intellectually gifted, to accept the instruction of wisdom that gives insight of reasoning, truth, rights and uprightness, as well; to give prudence to the inexperienced, and to give the youth knowledge, discretion and depth of thinking ability to reason... An intellectually shiny person shall be a great listener in order to advance knowledge in education. And distinguished wise men (i.e. professors) shall give excellent lectures to be able to lead and carry on.”45 42 Vladimir Dahl, Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian Language, Treatise on the Russian Dictionary, 1860, Second Edition, Contemporary Orthography, volume 1, page IX, Moscow, 2004. 43 Vladimir Dahl, Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian Language, Treatise on the Russian Dictionary, 1860, Third Edition by Baudouin de Courtenay, volume I, page 27, Moscow, 2004. 44 Jacob Grimm: Vorwort 1. Band, S. XXXIV, Leipzig 1854. 45 Míshlê Shlomoh, Tanakh [1:2-6], Translated from Old Armenian first translation by Saint Mesrop, Proverbs 1:2-6; modern translation from the manuscripts of the Armenian Bible, 434 A.D. by M. Karamian, Matenadaran, Institute of Ancient Scripts after St. Mashtots, Erevan, Armenia, Library of Ancient Scriptures, Scriptorium of Echmiadzin Cathedral, Built in 480 A.D. 46 Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary, War, Vol. 6, p. 341, London, 1824. ,12 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA World, ignorant of themselves and the World they have lived in...” 47 What is education and its essence? We have always asked this question to ourselves for many thousands of years as long as we have left our footprints on the Earth. Education is a complex spiritual picture of human of an “ideal beauty”, accumulated under the influence of moral and spiritual values representing the fruitful achievements of his cultural circle and weltаnschauung in its widest scope; and also a process of decorum, self-discipline, influences, polished “portrait” of human character. Mastering a language by using well compiled dictionary is the key to sincere education In this respect, the capacity of his knowledge comes first, and the connection of the latter with personal qualities and his ability to employ his intelligence by oneself alone and gain further development of its results. “For all man have the political virtues to a certain degree, and whether they have them or not are obliged to say that they have them. A person would be thought a mad-person who professed an art which s/he did not know; and he would be equally thought a mad-person if s/he did not profess a virtue which s/he had not. And that the political virtues can be taught and acquired, in the opinion of the Athenians approved by the fact that they punish evil-doers, with a view to prevention, of course - more retribution is for beasts, and not for man. Another proof of this is the education of youth, which begins almost as soon as they can speak, and is continued by the State when they pass out of the control of their parents. Nor is there any inconsistency in wise and good fathers having foolish and worthless sons; for (a) in the first place the young do not learn of their father’s only, but of all the citizens and (b) this is partly a matter of chance of natural gifts: the sons of a great statesman are not necessarily great great statesmen and more than the sons of a good artist are necessarily good artists. The errors of Socrates lies in supposing that there are no teachers when all men are teachers. Only a few, like Protagoras himself, are somewhat better than others... “48 Amongst all living things in this Universe only human being has developed a means of passing on one’s intellectual achievements, values, skills and attitudes to the posterity. This process is known to us as EDUCATION. Learning takes place through the entire life-span of human. The pace of learning changes with age, habits, attitudes, interests, subject matter and too many other factors to mention. “Education and admonition commence in the first years of childhood, and last to the very end of life.”49 Schoolwork does not speak loud enough when we think of education. The true education comes from outside of the school mostly than it may contain within itself. The basic education comes to us from the families we have been raised within. These range from the skills involved in behaving, eating, dressing, walking, adhering to normal values, religious attitudes, sharing with others, love of fellow man and respect for the law. The future success mainly depends on these fundamentals leading us to a satisfactory fulfillment of the divine gift, education upon which rests our rich heritage of human life that we must carry on. The meaning of education is the attempt to formulate the exhaustive and comprehensive objectives, content, essence and strategy of education in accordance with a harmoniously organized integration of it. The world literature beginning with Homer to contemporary authors is laden with advice on looking after the younger generation and posterity. The generous abundance of this advice would indicate that perplexities in child training are considered as perennial. There are many resourceful methods and factors based upon which it could be solved, the picture of its solution has been known to us for thousands of years. To seek assistance from the direction of educational philosophy, however, may shock “the average Joe” as rather formidable. Educational philosophy is nothing more than an extension and refinement of common sense that reflects on modern education and its prosperous development only if love is applied to it, both by the teacher and the student, only if passion is the soul monarch and dictator in its every aspect. Education is a continuous 47 William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude, In Reflection and Maxims, Part I, Harvard Classics, Vol. I, p. 337, Edition De Luxe, New York, 1909. 48 Plato, Dialogues, Yale Classics, Vol. 22, p. 144, Timothy Dwight Edition, London and New York, 1899. 49 Plato, Dialogues, Protogoras, Yale Classics, Vol. 22, p. 170, Timothy Dwight Edition, London and New York, 1899. ,13 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA reading and re-reading process of the history of our civilization. “This same idea in its over simplified state and form is the alphabet, for which there would be no word to express our gratitude for being granted to have this luxury.”50 *** From the alphabet to books, writing these very few thoughts on modern education took more than three thousand five hundred years due to recording the entire process of the birth of education and its further journey into the future to serve as a pathos, ready for more reasonable changes if that hope could be pampered and embraced with love, applying visionary insight upon it. In addition to the vital considerations raised by the nature of education, the ventilation of teaching deals with the moral or emotional aspect of the relation between teacher and student. Without interest learning seldom takes place, or if it does, it cannot rise above the level of rote memory. It is one thing to design a course of study in education for teaching and learning; another to motivate the student to understand and respect the values that education offers him to picture the given subject in colours inside or outside of his imagination. Though he does not hesitate to advocate what is to be learned by the student, Plato pinpoints the caution and the danger that there must be absolutely no “notion of facing our system of education”. Then the attestation process comes to evaluate the advancement in learning by means of examination. "Another error lies in the manner of delivering knowledge, which is generally magisterial and peremptory, not ingenious and open, but, suited to gain belief without examination.”51 Ultimately, more than interest is required. Saint Augustine indicated that teaching is the greatest act of charity. The learning process is facilitated by love only as an eloquent picture of love between the student and teacher, master and disciple with no evidence of conflict of interest. Not only love, which never fails52 but, pliancy and docility is required on the part of the student; and respect for the student’s thinking principle, intellectual power and common sense on the part of the teacher. Intellectual education cannot be directly concerned with the formation of ideographic character, yet the moral virtues are the factor in the pursuit of truth and in the discipline of the learning process and education, as well. “I have to be diligent, and any one who is equally so well will get on equally well.”53 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Teaching as being the greatest act of charity, learning as a result of generated unconditional love toward both entities, as well, serves as the locomotive power drive of it. The entire process, making teaching and learning of it a profitable aspect in life, yet carefully observing the state of mind and body of all participants in education, formulating the principles of its benefits, use and advancement of learning, yet contributing at the same time to its further development based on harmless, unbiased and rational methods. “A sound mind in a sound body is a short, but, full description of a happy state in the world. He that has this too, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will not be little be but the little better for anything else. Men’s happiness or misery is most part of their own making. He, whose mind directs not wisely, will never take the right way; and he, whose body is crazy and feeble, will never be able to advance in it.”54 Education is not itself an idea or a subject matter, as it is a theme to which grand thoughts and basic subject matter is relevant. It is one of the perennial practical problems which man cannot discuss without engaging in the deepest speculative considerations. It is a problem which carries discussion into and across a great many subject matters – the liberal arts of grammar, rhetoric, oratory, and logics; psychology, medicine, metaphysics, and theology; ethics, politics, and economics. It is a problem which draws into 50 Koryun, Biography of Mashtots, 443 A.D., Matenadaran, Institute of Ancient Scripts after St. Mashtots, Erevan, Armenia. 51 Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning, Vol. 23, page 22, Yale Classics, Timothy Dwight Edition, London and New York, 1899. 52 King James Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:8, England 1611. 53 J.S. Bach, Philipp Spitta, Johann Sebastian Bach, Vol. II, p. 50, First English Edition, London, 1951. 54 John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Harvard Classics, Vol. 37, Page 9, Edition De Luxe, New York, 1910. ,14 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA focus many a grand thought – virtue and truth, knowledge and opinion, art and science; desire, will, sense, memory, mind, habit; change and progress; family and state; man, nature and God. The truth is that “Everyone can be eloquent on a subject he understands.”55 for himself; as deforming him into a mediocrity and brandishing platitudes and classic tags. Such schooling and method of education suppresses all natural impulses, and makes education a torture and a living hell, which every student longs to avoid. But, education should be a happy process of natural unfolding, of learning from nature and experience, of freely developing one’s capacity to a full, zestful living - mode de vivre! This can be verified by nothing the diverse contexts in which education is discussed in many books going back all the way to the fifteenth century B.C. In this connection one shall find some of the special questions which together make up the complex problem of education. The nature of teaching and learning is examined in the wider context of psychological considerations concerning man’s abilities, the way in which knowledge is acquired, and how it is communicated by means of language and alphabet. Different conceptions of the nature of man and of the relation of these several capacities surround the question of the “endless” end of education. Their questions arise concerning the parts of education — the training of man’s body, the formation of his character, the cultivation of his mind – and how these are related to one another. The answer is in the individual’s mind without answering those questions because of their philosophical complexity or simplicity according to one’s mental capacity. A simple fact dictates us this maxim: "By advancing in philosophy, one will advance in grief, and those who are advanced intellectually, they will advance in painful misery.”56 Education should be the “art of training man:”57 the conscious guidance of the growing body to health, of the character to morality, of the mind to intelligence, of the feelings to self-control, sociability, happiness and absolute freedom of conscience etc. Education shall be free. Therefore an attendee of a free educational institutions is a STUDENT, whereas the attendee of a private school is a CLIENT. Ironically, “<...> man is nor better treated by nature in his first start then her other works are; so long as he is unable to act for himself as an independent intelligence, she acts for him. But the very fact that constitutes him a man is, that he does not remain stationary, where nature has placed him, that he can pass with his reason, retracing the steps nature had made him anticipate, that he can convert the work of necessity into one of free solutions, and elevate physical necessity into a moral law.”58 Apart from that educational system instructed by the state, it shall also be at least one thousand light years away from the church and any of its dangerously fatal doctrines ever concocted to mislead the innocent and the youth, except using the Bible as an example of the oldest book ever written on this planet, regardless of its relevant or irrelevant facts and factoids published within it. The clearest picture of an ideal education could be found in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Émile which answers all the questions regarding education that nobody could dare to discuss due to the hypocritical society that we live in. Even today, Émile is not fully understood or embraced by the present educational system and the intelligentsia mainly because of its essential core began by rejecting existing methods as teaching, usually by route, worn-out and corrupt ideas; as trying to make the student an obedient automation in a decaying society, not so different as the present state of our society in the twenty first century; as preventing the student from thinking and judging liberally 55 An elementary notion justifies that “One must clearly distinguish religion from faith. Religion is a cult dictating evil doctrines of despotic nature and promotes bloody and endless wars, whereas the faith synthesizes HOPE and LOVE governed by divine harmony in unimpregnable balance, which can move mountains.”59 Socrates, Quoted by Philipp Spitta, Johann Sebastian Bach, Vol. II, p. 49, First English Edition, London, 1951. 56 Translated from Old Armenian first translation by Saint Mesrop, Ecclesiastics 1:18; modern translation from the manuscripts of the Armenian Bible, 434 A.D. by M.K., Matenadaran, Institute of Ancient Scripts after St. Mashtots, Erevan, Armenia, Library of Ancient Scriptures, Scriptorium of Echmiadzin Cathedral, Built in 480 A.D. 57 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Émile, or On Education, page 37, London, 1911. 58 Friedrich Von Schiller, Aesthetics Education, Harvard Classics, Vol. 32, Page 234, New York 1910. 59 Anonymous. ,15 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA The Bible is of a great value as a book of history, geography, philosophy, law, politics, ethics and literature, ignoring all prophetic “canons”, since one as an educator will have the most challenging experience to demonstrate, prove or justify the biblical dreams, visions, magical tales, and especially the miracles. Regarding the other “so called” self proclaimed “holy books” of the East their shall be no harm at all to study books of other religions such as Zend-Avesta or Zoroastrian’s the Parthian in Persia, The Dhammapada or The Bhagavad-Gita of Hinduism, Buddhist Writings of Northern India, Upanishads of the Brahmins, and especially The Confucius of The Chinese. The Bible or Qur’an of the islamic world could be cautiously analyzed as a beautiful example of poetic literature of possibly the fifth century B.C and eighth century A.D., respectively, and finally as “the both monumental frauds recognized by the vast majority of scholars around the globe.”60 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones.”61 “And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure – reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”62 – George Washington (1732-1799). In addition, there shall be prescribed a private instruction by unmarried tutors of higher educational background (i.e. Professor Pangloss, or many of those in the same league in the present) being able to cover social sciences, natural sciences, literature, philosophy, music and physical education fluently (i.e. history, geography, economics, politics, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, cybernetics, physics, astronomy, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, biology, botany, zoology, linguistics, drama, art and music either in theory or instrumental) who would be paid well to devote any years of his life to his pupil; just like Aristotle devoted many years of his life to Alexander The Great. This kind of very special education instructed by such special tutors shall give all rights to the tutor to withdraw the student as much as possible from its parents and relatives, lest it be infected with the accumulated vices of civilization. Such method of education was employed and well introduced to Catherine the Great of Russia, Princess Dashkova, as well as Queen Elizabeth II of England and other members of different royal courts and ordinary families, and it proved its one hundred percent effectiveness. Let Queen Elizabeth justify and praise this educational system. Man’s erudition is "The greatest error of [advancement of learning], mistaking the ultimate end of knowledge; for some men covet knowledge of out a natural curiosity and inquisitive temper'; some to entertain the mind with variety and delight; some for ornament and reputation; some for victory and contention; many for lucre and a lively-hood; and but few for employing the Divine gift of reason to the use and benefit of mankind.”63 The tutor is responsible for encouraging the student to love animals (i.e. horse riding, feeding, breeding and grooming of them and other animals domestic or not including milking cows and being present during births, the making of cheese and other milk products), nature (drying leaves, hunting, herbarium, insectariums, butterfly collecting and preserving etc) and the outdoor activities (picnic, garden parties, riparian entertainment, sailing, fishing, walking, hiking and camping), to develop habits of simplicity: “Simplicity is the mother of perfection” (St. Augustine of Hippo).64 The educator’s responsibility also includes teaching the student to live on natural foods. Is there any food more delectable than that which has been grown in one’s own garden? A Vegetarian diet is the most wholesome, and it leads to the least ailments. However, human beings' gastrointestinal tract is not designed like that of a cow's digestive system. Human's are not classified as vegetarians. 60 Anonymous. 61 The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (with references). Matthew 24:24, p. 1207. Brooklyn. 1984. 62 George Washington, American Historical Documents from 1000-1904, Washington's Farewell Address [1796], Harvard Classics, Vol. 43, Page 260, Edition De Luxe, New York, 1910. 63 Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning, Yale Classics, Vol. 23, Page 23, Timothy Dwight Edition, London and New York, 1899. 64 Abu Ali ibn Sian, Avicennae, the Canon of the Medicine, volumes I-VI, Tashkent, 1954 & 1981. ,16 LA FILOLÓGICA POR LA CAUSA Vegetarians are animals. The nutritious impact of commercialized foods on the human body and mind (if body-mind dualism is to be believed) is in front of our very own eyes, by looking at unhealthy students suffering from obesity, being addicted to numerous prescription and illicit drugs. The results of the above mentioned affliction are becoming a “normal” part of their everyday life and indivisible misery of the society who deals with those problems on a daily basis at educational institutions, at home, on the streets and in rehabilitation centres without positive outcomes or affirmatively inspired prospect on life 65 panorama, projecting astronomical costs for the healthy society to pay for it's caused damages in life... (ibid. “a sound mind in a sound body...”/ “mens sana in corpore sano” by John Locke). “Inexperience is a bad treasure, and a bad fund to those who possess it, whether in opinion or reality, being devoid of self reliance and contentedness, and the nurse both of timidity and audacity. For timidity betrays a want of powers, and audacity a lack of skill. They are, indeed, two things, knowledge and opinion, of which the one makes its possessor really to know, the other to be ignorant”65. – Hippocrates (460 BC – c. 370 BC). Hippocrates, The Law of Hippocrates, Harvard Classics, Vol. 38, Page 5, Edition De Luxe, New York, 1910. ,17